(Snow)boarding: a way of life?

Last January we, a group of 3 anthropology students from Leiden, did a three week research for a course. The subject of our research consisted of the social behaviour of snowboarders. We ended up contacting Avalanche if we could do a part of our research in Eindhoven whilst joining in their activities. Eventually, we ended up doing part of our research in Delft with DROP and part in Eindhoven with Avalanche.From the moment we entered the bar, Aloys, and met them we felt comfortable and welcome around this group of relaxed people. I don’t want to go into depth about our research, but we noticed that within Avalanche everybody is friends and that there is a strong feeling of belonging to the group. However, doesn’t mean that other people are not welcome, since we were received with open arms and could easily join in on their weekly activities.

During research, they even asked us to join them on their snowboard holiday which they organized together with Spin from Utrecht and DROP from Delft. For us, this was a sign that they are just a bunch of really nice people, who enjoy boarding and chilling together and who are open to likeminded people. While joining them in their snowboard session, we also noticed that there is a lot of mutual respect within the group for every level of boarder, resulting in the fact that they really (snow)board ‘together’. Everybody helps each other by giving advice and teaching others new things.

We really enjoyed our time at Avalanche and if I was studying in Eindhoven, I would know for sure which association I would join: Avalanche. Not just because I like boarding, but because of the group you would be doing it with. But, don’t take my word for it, go and see it for yourself 🙂